by Bobby Akart
Chapter 11
November 26
Raven Rock Mountain Complex
Liberty Township, Pennsylvania
Since the advent of the hydrogen bomb and the revelation of its destructive capability, leaders within the United States government began to take measures to protect themselves. The Constitution laid out the basics of continuity of government as it related to lines of succession to the presidency. Our Founding Fathers never imagined a weapon so lethal that the entire government could be wiped out in seconds.
One of the early bunkers was built underground in the basement of the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia. As communications technology became more advanced and the size of the government grew, the need for more complex facilities arose.
The Raven Rock Mountain Complex, located near the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, dated back to the late nineteen forties when the U.S. government began to think about the consequences of their weapons technology. In essence, it was a freestanding city consisting of multiple three-story buildings tucked inside a mountain.
Like any small town, it had a basic infrastructure of utilities, first responders, and dining facilities, which operated twenty-four hours a day. Sleeping quarters were tight, but they had all the amenities of a studio apartment.
As the Cold War ended during the nineteen eighties, expansion and updating of the facility was set aside in favor of other forms of government spending. But then came 9/11, a wake-up call for all Americans and those within the government. Over the past twenty years, the Raven Rock complex had been rapidly expanded and could now protect over five thousand people.
Secretary Gregg had toured the facility many times. Raven Rock, also known as Site R, had become an underground Pentagon because of its formal designation as the Alternate National Military Command Center.
As Secretary of Defense, he maintained a permanent unescorted entry clearance. His wife was restricted to certain parts of the complex. After taking a moment to get her settled in, Secretary Gregg and his aide, Jackson Waller, immediately entered the command center, where they were greeted by Lieutenant Colonel Baker, the commander of the 1111th Signal Battalion, the so-called Signal Masters of the Rock. He was responsible for maintaining communications with the outside world and, as such, was privy to all communiques between the various intelligence agencies.
Colonel Baker was a permanent fixture at Raven Rock and had met Secretary Gregg on numerous occasions. He might have worked deep within a mountain, but he was also firmly entrenched within the deep state. He quickly pulled Secretary Gregg and Waller aside.
“Mr. Secretary, we’ve established full comms with all DOD facilities worldwide. You’re the first to arrive, and I’ll give you the latest intel rumor. This was a coordinated attack between Iran and North Korea.”
“Iran, too?” asked Secretary Gregg. “Is this coming from the agency?”
“Yes, sir, via Israeli intelligence,” replied Colonel Baker. “They apparently picked up postattack chatter from their resources in Tehran.”
Secretary Gregg frowned and shook his head. “I warned everyone who’d listen that Iran was an existential threat on par with North Korea. When we entered into that ridiculous deal with Iran to give them back billions of dollars in exchange for empty promises, they raised the ante because they could afford it.”
“Sir, Iran has been dealing directly with Pyongyang ever since,” added Waller. “There’s a reason they’re referred to as rogue states—they can’t be controlled.”
The voices of several other members of the cabinet were heard as the command center began to fill up with key members of the U.S. government. The three men abruptly halted their conversation.
“Thanks for the heads-up, Colonel,” said Secretary Gregg. “I trust you’ll come to me first in the future.”
“Absolutely, sir,” replied the colonel. He began to walk away to greet the new arrivals when Secretary Gregg grabbed him by the arm.
“Colonel, one more thing. Well, two, actually. Have you set up a line of communication to the Texas State House or their emergency operations there?”
“It’s on my list for this morning,” Colonel Baker replied.
Secretary Gregg leaned in to whisper, “Do you have someone you can trust to monitor their communication activity with the president and her staff?”
Colonel Baker thought for a moment and nodded. “I do. They’ll only report to me, of course, and it’s best you not be seen having direct conversations with the communications team. It would appear out of sorts.”
“Understood. In addition, are communications between my personal office and others monitored or logged in any way?”
“They’re not monitored, but they are logged per protocol. Every call is, including the president’s.”
Secretary Gregg leaned in closer. “If I need you to turn off my call logs, can you do that?”
“I can, but in order to avoid scrutiny, may I suggest you tell me in advance a block of time so that it doesn’t appear that you haven’t used your phone at all. The call activity can still be recovered from the internal servers of the communications system if curious minds choose to look into it.”
“Thank you, Colonel. I’ll keep that in mind.”
After Baker left them alone, Waller whispered to Secretary Gregg, “What was that all about?”
Secretary Gregg’s answer was simple, yet vague. “Possibly, our future.”
Chapter 12
November 26
Raven Rock Mountain Complex
Liberty Township, Pennsylvania
President Harman addressed those members of her cabinet who were in attendance. Pursuant to continuity-of-government protocols, other members who were in the line of succession were moved throughout the country to protected bunkers. Within the command center of Raven Rock, a large conference room was constructed to act as a situation room for the president when she was within the complex. It bore the presidential seal on the wall and contained several monitors designed for face-to-face communications with other facilities like Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado and Mount Weather in Virginia.
“For decades, our biggest fear within the halls of government has been an all-out nuclear war with the Russians that blankets our entire country with radiation, destruction, and death. But after 9/11, our focus shifted to terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL, and rogue nations like Iran and North Korea. Now, it appears that an Axis of Evil has been formed between those nations, and they are the ones responsible for this heinous attack.”
“Madam President,” interjected the director of the CIA, “we have not yet confirmed the Israeli intelligence, and no country has claimed responsibility for the act. That said, NORAD has confirmed the proximate trajectory of the satellites to be consistent with the low Earth orbits of Iran’s and the North Korean’s.”
“Thank you, but attribution will be determined soon enough,” continued the president. “First, I want to hear Homeland Security’s report on the impact this is having on the American people. Then we’ll turn to the Secretary of Defense to discuss what to expect next militarily. Carla?”
Carla Pickering was the new director of Homeland Security appointed by the president last summer. Her predecessor, a highly respected former police chief from New York City, had resigned suddenly amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Pickering had been California’s Homeland Security advisor during the president’s tenure as a prosecutor in San Francisco. The two had successfully fought the challenges to San Francisco’s sanctuary city status by the prior administration.
Before she was appointed California’s head of Homeland Security, Pickering was formally trained as a community psychologist and focused on integrating social, cultural, economic, and political influences into communities and organizations. In California, her expertise was deemed invaluable in dealing with the challenges faced by undocumented workers.
“Thank you, Madam President,” Pickering began, leaving her seat and standing in front of a single moni
tor showing a satellite image of the country. “This image was taken last night by the International Space Station. It clearly depicts the magnitude of the outage. As you can see, one state shines bright—Texas. We’ll get to them in a moment. First, I’d like to address our options for the rest of the nation.”
After everyone had a moment to study the image, Pickering continued. “Without trying to be flippant, this couldn’t have happened at a worse time for the American people. Thanksgiving weekend has traditionally been the biggest travel time of the year. Thirty percent of the population is away from home right now. For some, their natural inclination will be to begin traveling home by whatever means of transportation is available. Others will rely upon friends and families to house them until their resources run out.”
“What happens when those resources run out?” asked the president.
“America will become a dangerous place to live,” replied Pickering. “Most people are creatures of habit and will move only if they’re forced to. Just like livestock that are allowed to overgraze a field, they’ll continue to consume until the food supply is gone; then they’ll move on. Competition for resources and groups becoming territorial will force displaced Americans to find their way home, or they’ll seek perceived sources of food and shelter.”
“Away from the cities,” added Secretary Gregg. “They’ll naturally migrate to where they think they can hunt, fish, and eat crops and farm animals.”
“Makes sense,” said the president.
Secretary Gregg disagreed. “Not to the farmers and ranchers who own the land. I know the rural mindset having grown up in Texas and with people who came from rural communities. They’re not going to open their resources up to outsiders. They have their own to protect and feed.”
“With all due respect, Secretary Gregg,” interrupted Pickering, “I have an advanced degree in community psychology. Our studies have shown that people will come together and help one another. Our role in government is to make this temporary setback manageable and fair. The best approach is to pool the nation’s resources and help those in need the most—the elderly, women, children, and those who live in impoverished communities who don’t have access to farms and stocked fishing ponds or cattle that can be butchered.”
Secretary Gregg smiled and chose to remain silent. Yeah, good luck with that approach.
The president changed the subject. “Carla, how are people dealing with this? We’re entering the throes of winter now. Proper shelter will become an issue.”
“You’re correct, Madam President,” Pickering responded. “We’re in the early hours of the crisis. Reports are coming to us via satellite radio hookups with our field offices. There have been reports of looting in retail stores in the major cities. Local law enforcement is doing an admirable job of bringing calm to the streets. However, as always, when nighttime comes, frustrations seem to boil over. Police and fire departments will have their hands full.”
President Harman continued to gather information. “What can we do to help?”
“We’re still trying to establish communications with our FEMA field offices in order to deploy our operating assets around the country. Our warehouses have meals ready-to-eat and bottled water to distribute. FEMA also has military transport vehicles that were hardened against an electromagnetic pulse.”
“What kind of time frame are we talking about?” asked the president.
“Our communications linkups are the biggest issue—” began Pickering before being interrupted by the president.
“No, I’m sorry, let me clarify. Studies have always shown that society will begin to collapse within seventy-two hours. Does that hold true in our situation?”
“In my opinion,” started Pickering, “there will be a period of time when Americans will stop to assess their situation—a transition period, if you will. People will gather together seeking information and pledging to help one another. Throughout their lives, they’ve experienced power outages or a lack of water pressure for brief periods of time. However, their actions in response to this temporary inconvenience was dictated by the rapid response of government to restore the utility at issue. Under the present circumstances, the question is when will society realize this blackout is long term in nature. As days turn into weeks and then months, a survive-at-all-costs mindset will overtake most people. A nation without rule of law is very dangerous considering there are more guns than citizens in the United States.”
“Are we going to be able to stave off this downfall?” asked the president.
“For a while, yes. People will consume their refrigerated goods first and then deplete their pantries. The average American household has less than a week’s worth of food in their kitchens. We’ve become dependent on the close proximity of grocery stores and mega-retailers like Walmart to feed us on a moment’s notice. Without trucks restocking the shelves at the grocery stores, the food will be gone in a matter of days, if not hours.”
The president leaned back in her chair. Secretary Gregg watched her mind work. She was rightfully concerned about helping Americans through this, but his mind was preoccupied with when the nukes would start flying.
“It appears we have three days at most to begin delivering relief supplies to three hundred million Americans. How can this be accomplished?”
Pickering responded, “Admittedly, we’re not prepared for something of this magnitude. However, by stroke of luck, Texas was spared from the effects of the EMP. I suggest we enlist their help.”
“In what way?” asked the president’s chief of staff. He had been taking copious notes during the meeting.
“Mr. Acton, we need to fly a team from Andrews to Lackland to learn the impact the EMP had on Texas. We know their grid was spared, but we need to determine if their communications and transportation systems were adversely effected.”
“Let’s assume they’re in good working order. What will you need from them?” asked Acton.
“I believe we should use all of their mass transit buses, including school buses, to carry their available emergency food and water supplies to other parts of the country. As the buses return to Texas, they can carry Americans who are in most need of food, shelter, and medical attention. We’ll focus on the largest population centers like Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, and New York. These are the cities in which our limited resources can have the greatest impact. Plus, by reducing their populations and redistributing the citizens to housing in Texas, the burden on first responders in these populated areas will be reduced.”
The president nodded her head in agreement. “I agree with your assessment and the proposal. Put together your team and have them ready to travel by this evening or morning at the latest. I’ll plan a phone call to Governor Burnett this afternoon and pave the way for their arrival.”
Good luck with that, Secretary Gregg mused to himself as he imagined the governor’s response. He was sure it would be coupled with the words put it where the sun don’t shine in some form.
“Monty, let’s hear from you,” started the president, which shook Secretary Gregg back to the present. “Now is not the time to address what has happened in terms of the EMP. I’m most interested in how to protect our nation from the next wave of attack if one is planned.”
“Madam President, we’re ready for a follow-up attack in the form of a full-on nuclear assault. As to whether this is part of their overall strategy, time will tell. North Korea is highly secretive, and predictions of what they’ll do next is conjecture. Our intelligence has found them on the same war footing for many years. Quite simply, they are ready to attack us on a moment’s notice.”
“Obviously,” grumbled Acton.
“If the Iranians and North Koreans have used the EMP attacks as a precursor to a broader war, then it is my opinion the nuclear-equipped ICBMs would already be en route to our mainland. They would’ve hit us while we were scrambling to react to the power outage.”
“So you don’t anticipate a follow-up str
ike?” said the president.
“I anticipate everything, Madam President.”
“Except satellites, right?” sniped Acton.
The hackles rose on the back of Secretary Gregg’s neck. He bristled as he stared down the president’s chief of staff. “Yes, we did anticipate a nuke delivered by satellite. But such an attack is indefensible. The only way to prevent it was to take out the DPRK’s command and control apparatus, which we’ve never been green-lighted to do. Secondly, we should never have allowed Iran the financial wherewithal to expand its nuclear program. We should have undertaken preemptive measures—”
President Harman raised her hands and shouted, “Enough! Both of you. This is counterproductive. The purpose of this meeting is not to rehash the politics of the past or to cast blame for what has happened to our great nation. Monty, please, what additional actions are you taking to protect us in the event matters escalate?”
Secretary Gregg took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He broke the death stare he was exchanging with Acton and continued. “Madam President, we have done several things in the hours since the attack. First, we sent fourteen F-22 Raptors to South Korea to join our other stealth fighters in the event you order an air assault upon the North.
“Second, we have deployed our nuclear launch tracker, Constant Phoenix, to the Korean Peninsula. In the past, the newly redesigned Boeing WC-135 was used to monitor testing activities. With its capability to fly forty thousand feet above the North, it will provide us instant notification of an ICBM launch. The data received from the reconnaissance will be fed into our computers, and we can pinpoint within minutes the trajectory and likely target. This gives us a huge jump on preparing our defenses, which I’ve briefed you on in the past.
“Finally, and the following has only been performed in an experimental environment, we have specially designed F-35 Joint Strike Fighters that could intercept North Korean missiles in mid-flight.”
